On the bridge of a spaceship, Marie was sitting in her seat with her legs crossed.

While Marie's aggressive demeanor usually stood out during battle, she was now quietly watching the immortal fleet.

They were in the middle of a battle with the fleet led by Viscount Troid, who had become an immortal, but she herself looked as if her fighting spirit had vanished.

"Not afraid of dying... huh."

Looking down on the seemingly unmotivated Marie was Viscount Troid, displayed on the monitor.

He had the cracked skin characteristic of the undead, with black eyes and red pupils.

"It's useless. No matter how many times we die, we will be revived again and again by Lord Farabar's power. Your efforts are meaningless."

Never dying, Viscount Troid had no fear of war.

This was affecting his battle tactics, leading to an increase in careless charges and strategies.

His fighting had become sloppy, but Viscount Troid's fleet still held the upper hand.

Viscount Troid and the other Imperial nobles were also delighted to have become immortals.

"Lord Farabar is our true master!"
"Lady Marie Sera Marian, why don't you serve Lord Farabar as well?"
"There is no need to fear death. Truly, this is the work of a god!"

Some nobles had even appeared who revered Farabar as a god.

Indeed, if one could be revived no matter how many times they died, it was understandable they would want to worship Farabar as a god.

However, Marie had not the slightest interest.

"For me, my only master is Lord Liam. I would rather cut off my own head than serve some other riffraff."

Seeing Marie's nonchalant reply, Viscount Troid furrowed his brow.

The reason for his bitter expression was because of an order from Farabar.

"If Lord Farabar didn't desire you, I would have turned you to space dust long ago. It seems you're getting a little carried away."

The reason Viscount Troid's fleet operations seemed to be toying with them was because Farabar had ordered him to bring the competent Marie under his command by any means necessary.

For Viscount Troid and his men, it was likely displeasing that she was valued more highly than they were.

Hearing this, Marie scoffed.

"Oh? You speak as if you could kill me at any time. Why don't you try to recognize the difference in our abilities?"

Laughed at, the cracks on Viscount Troid's face spread with a sharp cracking sound.

He wore a displeased expression, but his face looked even more sinister than when he was alive.

"You're just a lower life form that dies when killed."

Hearing Viscount Troid's words, Marie's expression became blank.

"It seems you're under the delusion that you've become superior. —Fine, I'll teach you a lesson."

As Marie stood up from her seat, she confirmed the distance to the enemy's main force with her second-in-command.

"What's the distance to the enemy's main force? There's no way I can allow my fleet to accidentally attack Lord Liam's ship."

The second-in-command confirmed the distance, then nodded and gave a thumbs-up.

"No problem."

"Good. In that case, to those fools who rejoice at being unable to die—beat the agony of being unable to die into them!!"

The second-in-command agreed with Marie's furious words.

"They're fools to rejoice about being unable to die in front of us. Until a little while ago, we couldn't die even if we wanted to."

They couldn't die even if they wanted to.

In the past, Marie and her comrades had been petrified by the emperor from two thousand years ago, all while remaining conscious.

A blessing prevented their minds from collapsing, and they had spent two thousand long years as stone.

From the perspective of Marie and the others, being unable to die even when you wanted to was nothing but agony.

Marie was laughing with bloodshot eyes.

"We'll test if you really can't die. I wonder how many times you'll have to die before you start crying and begging for us to 'kill you'?"

◇

Meanwhile, Tia was on her bridge receiving a report.

The one reporting was an alchemist who looked like a researcher in a white coat.

"Your Excellency, here are the experimental results regarding the captured immortal. While we can't say we've analyzed it perfectly yet, we have found an effective countermeasure. It was just as you predicted, Your Excellency."

"I see."

Tia smiled as she replied, checking the data displayed around her.

Since the anti-undead measures had no effect, she had tried a different approach.

The result was a resounding success.

"Severing the link to their main force and killing the immortal prevents it from reviving—what was the immortal's condition when the link was restored?"

"It was a corpse that showed no reaction. This is just a hypothesis, but there may be higher-ranking beings among the immortals."

"Higher-ranking beings?"

"The captured immortal had almost no consciousness, but from your conversation with Marquis Hampson, we determined that consciousness does exist. In other words, in that he can maintain his consciousness, Marquis Hampson may be a higher-ranking being."

"Ah, I see. Thank you for your hard work. Continue your analysis of the immortals."

"Yes, ma'am!"

When the communication with her ally ended, Tia turned her gaze to Marquis Hampson, who was still on the monitor.

From his bitter expression, it seemed the current hypothesis was not off the mark.

"I don't know how they're connected to the main force, but it seems that if we can just sever that connection, revival becomes difficult."

"—Hmph, knowing that won't change the situation. Liam, who challenged Lord Farabar, will soon surrender to our forces. I look forward to seeing the look of despair on your face when that happens."

When the communication was cut, Tia gave a dark smile and issued an order to her second-in-command.

"You heard him. We don't have much time."

"Yes, ma'am! We'll begin preparations immediately."

"—Yes, we need to remind those fools who are so happy to have become incomplete immortals what fear is."

Tia crossed her arms on the bridge and waited for the preparations to be completed.

However, the enemy fleet intensified its offensive.

"Your Excellency, the enemy fleet's attack is gaining momentum!"

Unfazed by the operator's report, Tia was actually pleased.

"That's no good, Hampson—if you react so obviously, it's like you're admitting you're afraid of us."

Tia's fleet continued to retreat in the face of the enemy's offensive, but her second-in-command received a communication from somewhere and reported to her.

"Preparations are complete."

"Begin."

"All ships, synchronize your attack timing with the flagship. Fire missiles! Don't forget a full salvo from the main cannons before impact!"

As the second-in-command issued detailed orders, Tia's fleet moved swiftly to execute them.

Missiles designed to sever the link with the enemy's main force struck the enemy ships, which were then hit and destroyed by the allied fleet's attacks.

Normally, repairs should have started immediately—but confirming that this was not happening, Tia issued another order.

"Continue. Whittle them down as much as you can while the enemy's formation is in disarray from their careless charge."

Having found the immortal fleet's weakness, Tia smiled for Hampson's sake.

"This time, I'll finish you off for good. If you don't like it, you can run around pathetically—Hampson."

The operators' voices were filled with excitement as they watched the enemy fleet crumble.

Reports that sounded like cheers continued.

"No sign of repairs in the enemy fleet!"
"Our fleet is destroying enemy ships one after another!"
"Report from other fleets! Similar results confirmed. We will now commence our attack on the enemy fleet!"

The enemy fleet was repaired no matter how many times it was defeated, but each time, missing parts were forcibly repaired.

Perhaps because of this, their performance was severely degraded.

They could attack, but they were a fleet that gave no consideration to defense.

As expected, they were destroyed one after another by the Banfield House's fleet.

Then, the second-in-command spotted an enemy ship—Hampson's flagship—fleeing.

"Lady Tia! Hampson's ship is retreating!"

"Don't let him escape. Kill him without fail."

As if in reaction to Tia's merciless words, Hampson's face appeared on the monitor.

"Christiana! Don't think it will end like this. You, who have damaged Lord Farabar's immortal fleet, will surely see hell!"

Seeing Hampson mention Farabar's name, Tia cackled with laughter.

Then her expression became blank—seeing such an emotionally unstable Tia, Hampson's cheek twitched.

But Tia paid it no mind and declared.

"I've already tasted hell. Now—it's your turn."

"CHRISTIANAAAA!!"

Immediately after, Hampson's flagship was destroyed, its bridge engulfed in light and vaporized.

Tia smiled blissfully.

"Now, let's go and receive Lord Liam."

◇

Meanwhile, Marie's fleet—

"Tch! Don't you dare give up over something like this!!"

—was charging Viscount Troid's fleet.

Piloting her mobile knight, Marie was attacking Viscount Troid's flagship.

And in the hand of Marie's mobile knight, Viscount Troid was being held.

Struggling in the vacuum of space, Viscount Troid was crushed by Marie's mobile knight again—and again—and again—and again—and again.

Each time, he revived instantly.

At first, he put on a brave face, saying, "Over something like this?!" but gradually he tried to negotiate, saying, "L-Listen to me—" "W-Wait! Wait!"

However, Marie continued to crush Viscount Troid repeatedly with one hand while attacking and destroying the surrounding ships.

The warships, repaired into distorted shapes each time they revived, no longer retained their original forms.

Perhaps their optical weapon ports had become warped, as several ships appeared that would self-destruct when they tried to attack.

As a result of being destroyed so many times, they had transformed into something that could no longer be called battleships.

Viscount Troid's flagship was the same.

It had been reduced to a shape like a dumpling made of iron, and the crew inside were trapped, struggling in agony.

Watching this, Marie pulled the trigger of her mobile knight's large rifle.

It was shot through and scattered, but—it immediately began to gather to repair itself.

Marie's subordinates were doing the same, and a gruesome scene unfolded around them.

The ones who created it were the Banfield House's fleet.

In the hand of the mobile knight, Viscount Troid, who had revived many times into a distorted form, begged Marie for forgiveness.

"H-Help me... at this point... just... kill... me."

His lip movements were read, and the audio was played inside the cockpit.

This was how they were able to converse in the vacuum of space.

The only way for Viscount Troid to escape this suffering was to stop being an immortal.

However, Marie would not allow it.

"How many thousands of years do you think we endured? You and your subordinates can just continue to drift through space as a lump of flesh!!"

Slamming Viscount Troid against his flagship, Marie aimed her rifle and pulled the trigger.

Even if he revived, Viscount Troid, now absorbed into his flagship, was unable to move.

"Someone, please help me!!"

He let out a sorrowful scream, but of course, Marie ignored him.

As an allied unit approached—

"Marie! Tia's fleet is heading to rescue Lord Liam! Number Four is leading his fleet there too. We're falling behind!"

Hearing that her allies were moving to rescue Liam, Marie's tone grew harsh.

"Like hell I'll let that Mincemeat Woman beat me to it! You guys, stop messing around! Get back to the mothership, we're going to rescue Lord Liam!"

Since Marie, the one who had taken the lead in creating this spectacle, was now ordering them to "stop playing," her subordinates reluctantly returned to the mothership.

"You were the one playing around the most, Marie."
"Let's hurry and go help Lord Liam."
"We can't let those Mincemeat bastards get there first."

Marie kicked the mobile knights of her grumbling subordinates.

"Hurry up, you idiots!"